Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) Short Interest Up 8.3% in September

Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,560,000 shares, an increase of 8.3% from the August 31st total of 6,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Arbutus Biopharma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 7.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 57,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 18.0% in the second quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 36,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 22.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,388 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 6,649 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 30.5% in the first quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 41,935 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 43.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABUS. JMP Securities raised their target price on Arbutus Biopharma from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 10th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Arbutus Biopharma from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ABUS opened at $3.83 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $722.79 million, a PE ratio of -8.70 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.34. Arbutus Biopharma has a twelve month low of $1.69 and a twelve month high of $4.72.

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.01). Arbutus Biopharma had a negative net margin of 766.20% and a negative return on equity of 66.68%. The business had revenue of $1.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Arbutus Biopharma will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Arbutus Biopharma

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops novel therapeutics for chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the United States. Its HBV product pipeline consists of imdusiran (AB-729), a proprietary subcutaneously-delivered RNAi therapeutic product candidate that suppresses all HBV antigens, including HBsAg expression.